1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of computers and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for computer-aided medical care.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of computers to process medical data has long been known. For example, the electrical signals generated by various sensors such as electrocardiographs, electroencephalographs and other sensors may be filtered, conditioned and verified by analog or digital computers which serve as signal processing filters. Clearly, such signal conditioners prepare the medical data for use in subsequent diagnosis, but such devices do not participate in the diagnostic algorithm.
The prior art is replete with input/output terminals for accessing computer-based central medical data records from multiple remote locations. While such terminals and data storage systems are of great practical value, it is clear that they also do not perform the same function as the present invention, namely diagnosis.
As used below, diagnosis means the determination of the patient's malady based on an evaluation of a set of symptoms and findings.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,228, issued Aug. 20, 1974 to Foner, a portable biophysiological information processing device is shown which may be used to make electrocardiograms and the like. The device appears to convert electrical signals from the sensors into a meaningful form which is then printed out. No details of the information processing technique are given. The device contains "deducing means for deducing an intelligent interpretation of the information". Means for detecting erroneous inputs and conveying warning messages to the operator regarding difficulties with poor contact, noise, interference, ranging error, etc. are provided. It appears that this invention falls into the category of signal processing devices mentioned above. The patents to be discussed below all deal with the generation and use of computerized medical records.
Rowland, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,863, issued June 5, 1973 shows a medical testing system including a computer connected to receive test results from sensors and to print out a test report of the tests performed.
A computerized file for handling and processing all of the patient records in a hospital is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,448, issued Mar. 18, 1975 to Mitchell, Jr. The computer contains a number of files, such as patient description file, transaction file, test library file and past results file. These files, in the central computer, may be easily accessed from multiple stations within the hospital.
Likewise, a complete computer-based medical record system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,566,365; 3,693,166; 3,725,866; and, 3,839,708. As pointed out above, none of these systems have the capability of examining the test results and data stored in them to determine the nature of the patient's problem.